AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Kevin Hervey didn’t sugarcoat his response. There wasn’t a prepared spiel about how he anticipated one day being on basketball’s biggest stage, sharing the spotlight with some of the sport’s most accomplished players.

Standing tall in front of a handful of media members at the Detroit Pistons practice facility Saturday afternoon, the former University of Texas-Arlington forward was asked about his NBA hopes and the recurring childhood dream of one day hearing his name being called at the NBA draft. There was always hope, sure. But it was never reality.

Until recently.

“When I was in college, since my sophomore year, everyone was kind of talking to me about the NBA,” Hervey said after his workout for the Pistons. “But the type of guy I am, I focus on the task at hand. I was just worried about college. Toward the end of my college career, toward my senior year, is when it started to become more of a reality. But still, I...